Economy minister blames banks for discouraging swap, as battle lines reportedly drawn with Central Bank chief over freeze

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DURAS CRÍTICAS A MENEM Y DUHALDE Miles de personas reclamaron justicia a ocho años del atentado a la AMIA tanto en el lugar de la explosión como en Plaza de Mayo. Los oradores acusaron a los sucesivos gobiernos de obstruccionismo, complicidad y encubrimiento

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PARIS Remember the financial crisis of 1997? It started in Thailand and spread like fire to Malaysia. We thought that Indonesia would be spared, being "too big to fail" - until creditors decided not to renew short-term credit lines. Soon after, all of Southeast Asia found itself in the eye of the storm.

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Der Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk (MDR) hat offenbar erneut mehrere Millionen Euro durch Wertpapierspekulationen verloren. Das Nachrichtenmagazin »Der Spiegel« und »Bild am Sonntag« berichteten, die öffentlich-rechtliche Rundfunkanstalt müsse nach dem Handel mit Argentinien-Anleihen einen Verlust von mehr als 18 Millionen Mark (etwa 9,35 Millionen Euro) verbuchen. In einer am Sonntag verbreiteten Erklärung wies der MDR die Darstellung zurück, der Sender sei pleite.

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Con un acto frente a su reconstruida sede, fue recordado el sangriento atentado contra la AMIA a ocho años de cometido. Los oradores enjuiciaron con severidad al Presidente, los poderes públicos y la dirigencia política y reiteraron la exigencia de pronto esclarecimiento.

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La senadora peronista disidente aseguró que una carpeta de la SIDE contiene instrucciones para hacer seguimientos de Néstor Kirchner a fin de detectar hábitos, comitivas, entorno, infraestructura y posibles puntos débiles. Se trataría de espionaje interno contrario a la ley.

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BUENOS AIRES, July 17 (Xinhuanet) -- The Argentine government promises to respect the current schedule for March 30, 2003, presidential election and will not change the voting date again, which originally was set for September, 2003, a senior Argentine official said on Wednesday>>> news.xinhuanet.com

Thu 18 Jul 2002

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The San Antonio Spurs signed Argentine guard Emanuel Ginobili, a star player in the Italian League.

Terms of the contract were not released Thursday, but the San Antonio Express-News reported earlier that the two-year deal would be worth about $3 million. Spurs Sign Argentine Shooting Guard Thu 18 Jul 2002

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The San Antonio Spurs signed Argentine guard Emanuel Ginobili, a star player in the Italian League.

Terms of the contract were not released Thursday, but the San Antonio Express-News reported earlier that the two-year deal would be worth about $3 million.

The 6-foot-6 Ginobili, who was San Antonio's second-round draft pick in 1999, has played in the Italian League for the past four years. Last season he was an All-Star and averaged 20 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.3 steals.

Spurs Sign Argentine Shooting Guard Thu 18 Jul 2002

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The San Antonio Spurs signed Argentine guard Emanuel Ginobili, a star player in the Italian League.

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Gewichtige Differenzen zum südamerikanischen Land

bau. Mexiko, 18. Juli

Eine ungeschickte Äusserung des mexikanischen Finanzministers Francisco Gil Díaz hat vor kurzem die Investorengemeinschaft aufgeschreckt. Mitte Juni überschritt die mexikanische Landeswährung, die im Jahr 2001 zu den stabilsten der Welt gezählt hatte, für ein paar Stunden die psychologische Barriere von 10 mex. P pro Dollar. Ende vergangener Woche hat sich der dem frei floatenden Wechselkursregime unterliegende, inzwischen leicht angeschlagene «Superpeso» bei P 9.72 pro Dollar eingependelt. Seit Jahresbeginn hat die mexikanische Währung somit etwa 6% ihres Wertes eingebüsst, eine äusserst bescheidene Abwertung. In den ersten sechs Monaten verlor der argentinische Peso gegenüber dem Dollar drei Viertel seines Wertes, der venezolanische Bolívar rund 40% und der brasilianische Real 18%. Ähnlich kontrolliert wie in Mexiko verlief die Abwertung in Chile. Für die mexikanische Exportwirtschaft ist ein abgewerteter Peso eine willkommene Entwicklung. Die Währung galt zu Beginn des Jahres als etwa einen Viertel überbewertet.

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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, July 18 (Reuters) - Argentina will issue $9.35 billion in bonds by July 29 to compensate banks whose dollar-denominated savings and loans were converted into pesos at mismatched rates, creating billions of dollars in losses, Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna said on Thursday.

The solvency of the entire Argentine financial system is at risk since the government switched banks' dollar loans into pesos at parity but changed dollar deposits to pesos at a rate of 1.4 to the dollar earlier this year, after devaluation.

The government has promised banks compensation after they incurred billions of dollars in charges because of the mismatch but the exact dollar value of the package was not officially known until Thursday's announcement.

Lavagna did not say, however, when the bonds mature or provide any other details of their terms. (Reuters)

El secretario del Tesoro estadounidense, Paul O'Neill, descartó hoy que su visita a la Argentina prevista para fin de mes sea un preámbulo para un rápido desembolso por parte de Estados Unidos o del Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI) para el país. Además, explicó que el motivo de la visita es interiorizarse en la situación real de la economía.

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El vocero del organismo, Thomas Dawson, dijo que esa será la posición que sostendrá la comisión de notables que llegará la semana próxima. Afirmó que era previsible que el canje de bonos no fuera exitoso. Y confirmó que Pignanelli mantiene reuniones con las autoridades del Fondo.

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Leftist Deputy Luis Zamora claims he was also threatened, along with Peronists Kirchner and Rodríguez Saá.

Amid growing allegations of a government conspiracy to assassinate presidential candidates, government spokesmen vehemently denied the existence of such a plot and said that Peronist President Eduardo Duhalde will remain uninvolved in upcoming elections. In a statement yesterday, presidential spokesman Eduardo Amadeo dismissed charges levelled by Néstor Kirchner, the Peronist governor of Santa Cruz province and a presidential hopeful, of persecution and threats against his life by the SIDE intelligence agency in collusion with Duhalde’s caretaker regime.

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